Birmingham strike ballot 'after delay to settling equal pay claims'

Birmingham City Council declared itself effectively bankrupt in September

Workers at Birmingham City Council will start a ballot for strike action after "bosses announced a further delay to settling outstanding equal pay claims", the GMB union said.

The authority declared itself effectively bankrupt in September amid an equal pay claim of up to £760m and an £80m overspend on an IT system.

The GMB wants a timetable for settling the equal pay liability announced.

The council said it was "committed to resolving historic equal pay issues".

The union, which said it was the council's largest staff union, stated the ballot would begin on Tuesday and run until mid-January, with more than 3,000 workers asked to have their say.

The announcement over the ballot "comes on the eve of crunch budget talks at the authority", the GMB said.

It added it had called on leaders in the city to "urgently announce a timetable" for settling the equal pay liability, "only for council representatives to respond that settlement talks would be pushed back".

Commissioners have been sent in by the government to help run the authority, after the extent of its financial crisis was made public.

The authority's financial crisis was worsened by a "deep-seated blame culture" and "low levels of trust" between councillors and officers, according to an independent report.

In October, the authority said it had reached an agreement with unions in a move to stem equal pay claims.

At the time, the Labour leader of the council, John Cotton, said he was delighted to have reached an agreement over a job grading scheme.

A council spokesperson said on Monday: "The council has been engaging with GMB on matters of equal pay since November 2021, and following the further agreement made with the Trades Unions in October 2023, has begun work on a new approach to job evaluation to settle Birmingham's equal pay issues once and for all.

"The council would encourage GMB to explore solutions working together, as it remains committed to resolving historic equal pay issues, and settling all legitimate claims from our employees."

Last month, Mr Cotton told the BBC there would not be a fire sale of assets but "everything was on the table", as it looked at its budget and savings.

A council review revealed it faced a £165m budget deficit in the next financial year and a need to find savings of £35m the year after.